Details emerge for four fixtures

The provisional dates and kick-off times for the first four of Leicester City's remaining fixtures have been revealed in a new report.

With the restart just a fortnight away, schedules are now being discussed and the planned kick-off times for City's Premier League matches against Watford, Brighton, and Everton, as well as their FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea, have been released by The Times.

City will travel to Vicarage Road to play Nigel Pearson's Hornets in their first game back, with the schedule expected to broadly follow the original fixture list. The game is said to be kicking off at 12.30pm on Saturday, June 20, with the match screened live on BT Sport.

Then, City will host Brighton, with the match set for the peculiar time of 6pm on Thursday, June 25, with Sky Sports showing it live. The FA Cup tie against Chelsea follows a few days later, on Sunday, June 28, and kicks off at 2.30pm. BT Sport will be broadcasting the last-eight clash at the King Power Stadium.

The fourth game already pencilled in is the trip to Goodison Park to play Everton, which will be a 6pm kick-off on Wednesday, July 1. It will be shown live on Sky, and will be City's third game in the space of seven days.

Read more here.

Council approve Vichai statue

Leicester City can build a statue in tribute to late chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha after their plans were granted approval by Leicester City Council.

The club have been given the go ahead for the 4.7m bronze structure, which will be situated on the corner of the King Power Stadium where Raw Dykes Road meets Filbert Way, outside the fanstore.

City submitted plans for the statue in April and hope for it to become a focal point for supporters arriving at the ground.

Residents were given the opportunity to voice their opinions on the plans, with the City Council reporting just one letter of objection, with 32 in favour.

“One letter of objection has been submitted stating that it is considered that the statue should be located to the south east of the stadium, where there is a memorial garden for the victims of the helicopter crash,” the Council’s approval note said. “The objector also considers that its location is not appropriate for the football club or the city."

Read more here.

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Mahrez makes claim over debut Prem season

Former Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez believes he played well in the club’s dramatic first Premier League season but suggested he could not show off his true talent until the team improved around him in the title-winning campaign.

Mahrez shot to superstardom during the 2015-16 season, winning the PFA player of the year award after his 17 goals and 10 assists helped fire City to an astonishing Premier League title.

The year before, City’s first season back in the Premier League and Mahrez's first full term at the club, the winger registered four goals and three assists in 30 appearances as Nigel Pearson's men struggled until April, when their late charge clinched an unlikely survival.

But reflecting on the 2014-15 campaign, Mahrez said he had a “good feeling” but could not “do everything alone”.

“The first year in the Prem with Leicester we were struggling a bit but I was always playing good,” Mahrez, now at Manchester City, told Sky Sports’ The Football Show. “I had a good feeling of the league, I felt like I could do something."

Read more from Mahrez here.

Clubs able to make five subs

Leicester City will be allowed to make five substitutions when the Premier League resumes later this month.

The coronavirus pandemic has postponed the 2019-20 campaign for nearly three months with City's match agaisnt Aston Villa on March 9, a 4-0 win, the last game to be played in the top flight.

Last week it was agreed that the top flight would return, behind closed doors without fans, with play to resume on June 17.

In order to mitigate the extra strain put on teams as a result of a packed and congested fixture list, the Premier League has agreed that five substitutions can now be used per game as opposed to the normal three.

Top flight sides will be able to name nine substitutes instead of seven, too and that will come into immediate effect for City's first game back against Watford.